Advantages

Disadvantages

One of the best games of the 21st Century yet.

This long awaited prequel to the first Halo game is a master art of success and innovation from detailed graphics and stunning storyline following the 6th member of the elite spartan team. One of the most anticipated games yet, Halo Reach shows a time when many Spartans inhabited the universe in the fight against the Covenant. Halo means so much for many fans across the world. Many people, including me, bought the Xbox console just for Halo. This prequel lets you learn the secrets that led to the Halo trilogy. Bungie has surely managed to grab a piece of success from each of the other Halo games and put them together into the success that Halo Reach is. Personally, Halo Reach is the closest game that I have seen to a perfect first person shooting game. What I love most about Halo Reach is Firefight, letting you fight multiple waves of enemies with split screen or multi-player. I have to say that Halo Reach's Firefight multiplies the value of the game that has marked a space in our hearts.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

A Solid Prequel thing

Reach received such a hyped up release, it's easy to see why many people have (and no doubt will) write about it being a poor game, especially when compared to halo's one through 3 as well as ODST and Wars. The truth is though, the downsides about reach are that the campaign seems short and the levels forgettable. Oh and the story.. you can't expect the story to knock you off your feet, just like all the others in the franchise. Perhaps Bungie focused on the battle system and online play, because the multiplayer is addictive as ever, introducing starting drops that allow for varied and adjustable gameplay - from simple and effective abilities such as sprinting and diving, to more advanced modifications like armour lock, camouflage and jetpacks - all usually varying a starting weapon. Crisp new maps and remodelled ones seem more enjoyable than the campaigns environments and with the new additions previously mentioned, Bungie have had more freedom in their map making decisions, taking advantage of heights and edges now accessible thanks to jetpacks and sprinting. The horribly overpowered battle rifle is gone and replaced with a one shot DMR, the halo1 pistol is back although less powerful, new covenant and UNSC weapons with newish ways to fight make the multiplayer differ from 3 but thanks to similar controller configuration, theres no need to re learn the games combat system.

The graphics aren't too shabby either with quite a few changes made to the covenant troops and new look vehicles, maps and suits. You can customise your characters set up more so than its predecessor and appear the way you want to, even in campaign mode, videos and all. Music is a continuation of the Halo games with the traditional African rhythm theme and the modern squeal of a guitar solo and low hum of a male choir. Despite some of the bland campaign levels there are events that stick with you such as flying around inside a banshee seeing a ruined city in the rain with thunder and lightning, being in space, the remodelled truth and reconciliation area and of course using every past vehicle plus the revenant and SPACESHIPS. The idea of the special abilities (found in every game type) unlimited drop shields, decoys and radar jammers just add that certain something capable of all sorts of tomfoolery in drastic situations. There's even an armoury for unlocking and buying new (non-beneficial) gear for your Spartan or elite, ranging through helmets, chest plates, arm and leg guards and some special, expensive equipment that offer brief amusement upon your death - confetti and children cheering, lightning, flies, broken hearts and numerous voices to purchase via a credits system (the better you and your team do, and by gaining commendations the more credits you gain). Sharp.

Even people uninterested in the halo series would find this game appealing, with its various multiplayer modes, firefight options and decent campaign. There is even downloadable content for new maps etc, which I wouldn't personally recommend as I think its a bit cheeky to release a game and deliberately hold back content to make a quick buck when sales start to drop, but the content is there if you're willing to pay extra for it. Yes, all in all Halo Reach is a success.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

For me, the best Halo after Halo: Combats Evolved

Hi,So Halo has always been for me one of the best games ever, I started of quite a while ago with Halo: Combats evolved & literally fell in love with the whole Halo universe!So when this one came out, i was really exited although i hadn't really liked Halo 3: ODST, but whatever, the trailers looked amazing!I bought it as soon as it was available, started of by the campaign.-The graphics are amazing! The Reach game engine is incredebily realistic, the colours are brighter, just more "real"! -The gameplay is simply awesome, it is so much better than in ODST, much more fluid, faster & much more realist!-The new weapons are actually quite decent, very handy at the start (& deadly good in multiplayer)-The multiplayer is as good as the one in halo 3 (in my opinion), i spent hours of fun on it with all the good old match modes & some new ones which are really fun!-The menus in the game are really cool, the design of them is really intuitive, straight forward!-And the possibility to ameliorate your character (buy him a new helmet, new body armour..) is a really good idea, it's a great customization system, for a more recognisable character!

Ok, so that's my quick review of Halo Reach done, I really recommend it for any halo fan! :)

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Overall, a great game that I would encourage anyone to at least try it out!

Personally my experiences of Halo: Reach are fairly good!Having never owned an Xbox, I had always played PS3, I bought the Limited Edition Halo: Reach 250GB Xbox, this was the best decision I had made in the world of gaming! With a gripping co-op campaign, watching the story unfold with a friend is amazing, and a great story line it makes for a great game! Hours will literally pass by! The online gaming side of it is pretty good, though not as good as I expected, and after I had finished campaign I felt as though nothing else made me want to play the game, apart from playing campaign on harder difficulties.Now a year or so on I occasionally find myself going back to Halo for the multiplayer aspect of it, but like all games the spark does eventually fade away. I am sure it's not like this for some of the more dedicated halo fans but for me, the only reminder of Halo: Reach, is the noises my Xbox make when turning it on/off and opening the disc tray. Halo: Reach, is one of the most original games I have played, and I don't think anyone can ever top Halo.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

A fantastic game from the Halo series.

Halo Reach is a game that I first started playing upon it's release in September 2010 after hearing my husband raving with his friends about how excited he was to buy it when it came out. This is a first person shooter that is set in the year 2552. You are a member of the Noble Six team and as an elite soldier you will be travelling through the various levels engaging in combat with the Covenant. Your aim is to kill the enemies and this game story continues the Halo storyline from the previous games so there is a fantastic continuity for people that have already played other games in the series, however, it is very simple to step in to playing this game, as I did, without having really played any of the previous games, however, since playing this game I have now played the other games also for a fairly significant amount of time.

The main additions to this game from the previous games are as follows:

A rechargeable health shield - when you get shot or attacked now your shield, depending on its level, may well regenerate to allow you to go through the game taking more shots without dying and providing it does not get down to a very low level you will be able to regenerate your shield after waiting a few seconds and then continue with your battle. As ever there are health packs throughout the levels to help you regain your health if you have reached the lowest health point before you die and it is not regenerating because of this.

Armour abilities - You will now be able to select an armour ability and with active camouflage, armour lock, Hologram, Jet Pack and Sprint there are lots to choose from and each other has a different capability that you can use to your advantage to help you, particularly when playing some of the online multi-player levels.

Armory - This is where you can use the credits that you earn playing games to purchase items for your character to wear. You can create a 4 character tag for people to recognise you when you are running around the games and it is great to be able to customise your character to hopefully ensure that you never see another person who is wearing the same colours and items as you. There are thousands of different combinations and some items cost vast amounts while others are free or very cheap (in game credits not real money).

=== Game play ===

The Halo games have fantastic game play, in my opinion, and this game continues that very well. The game play is face paced, full of action, fun and exciting. The game play has been improved since the previous games and the addition of the items I mentioned above add something extra to the game, for me, and make me want to return back to this game even after experiencing the earlier games.

There are varying levels of difficulty; easy, normal, heroic and legendary which allow you to pick your preferred level of difficulty and then play through the game at your leisure. There are lots of checkpoints allow the way and if you need to leave the game or want to finish playing then when you next return to the game you will be able to go back to one of your checkpoints, similarly if you die then you will be able to 'respawn' at selected points to allow you to continue with the game quickly and with minimal game loss.

There are six different main game modes that you can select when playing this game and I will briefly describe each of them:

Campaign - This is the main game itself, pick your difficulty and away you go! There are eleven missions to the game and I found that each one probably take me somewhere between 30 and 60 minutes but some I had to play through more than once to unlock various achievements and this helped to increase the longevity of the game. The hardest challenge of the game, complete the game on legendary while playing alone, is done here and this will definitely frustrate you as you have to keep starting the levels again or return back to previous checkpoints because you have died again. If the levels aren't hard enough then you can turn on some of the skulls, each that has a different feature, to increase the difficulty of the game a little bit more!

Matchmaking - This is what allows you to play against other players, online via Xbox Live, and is definitely the game mode that I play the most, even one year on I probably still play this a few times a week. There really are no limits or ends to the different games that you can play and every now and then new game modes are released to keep the games feeling fresh. You can play people from all around the world and it really is possible to get matched up with almost anyone when playing one of your games. Whether you are looking to play one vs one or ten vs ten you can find it here and there are objective based team games and games where you are against everybody else such as SWAT.

Firefight - This is a game mode that can be played alone, with friends or through Xbox Live matchmaking and my preferred method is to play with friends that I know. This is a game that sees you playing in small sections of the levels of the main game and you get to either work alone or with others to kill the enemies and build up points and unlock achievements. There is a bar on the side that shows you the friend whose score you should be aiming for if you want to be the best and top the leader board amongst your friends. There are lots of different rounds and options that you can choose here and these will keep you occupied for many hours on end.

Custom Game - This is a mode where you can just do whatever you like basically. You can create games with your own rules and then play them with people on Xbox Live. You can choose from a variety of different scenarios and maps and this brings something extra to the game really as you can even download games that other people have submitted and play them against your friends or people you don't even know well!

Forge - This is a mode where you just travel around wherever you like. You can load up anything you want be it vehicles, weapons or anything else and you can just generally cause carnage. This is great fun but I don't play it often because it takes a lot of time to prepare things and I just do not have the patience and prefer to jump straight in to the game.

Theatre - This mode if where you can watch videos that you can create of yourself playing the game. You can also download videos from your friends and others, even via the Bungie.net website, and then you can watch them whenever you like to play back your favourite game or head shot over and over again.

=== Sound & Graphics ===

The graphics in this game are wonderful and greatly improved on the previous games in the Halo series. There are lots of special effects and the small movies are very interesting to watch also with lots of fantastic detail. I love how the original character remains and that I can then customise him and he looks sophisticated and the detail on the armour is fantastic.

I love the sounds in this game, they are fun and interesting. Each of the characters and enemies has their own sound effects and their own little phrases that they use which are wonderfully interesting and add another element to the game. The sounds really stand out and add another element to the game increasing my excitement and I can still remember how thrilled I was when the game first loaded and I finally got to hear the game music.

=== Overall opinion ===

It is fair to say that I love this game. I have played it for several hundreds hours over the past year and I thoroughly enjoy my evenings that I occasionally spend catching up with friends over Xbox Live and fighting enemies and working on objectives together. I love the team feel to the game and it is brilliant to spend time with friends while doing something amazing. I love absolutely everything about this game. The longevity is good, there are lots of achievements to earn, there are map pack adds on and I love being able to play the games to unlock the next rank to show my friends, and others that I play online, that I am a fantastic player of the game and I have earnt lots along the way!

I find the four different levels each offer a challenge but that easy is ideal if you are new to the game and this was initially where I started out and soon I was progressing up in difficulty until I completed the game on legendary with my husband but never on my own as the challenge is just too time consuming for me!

My husband and I love this game so much that we each have our own Xbox now and our own copy of this game each so that we can either play on the same team or hopefully play against each other on opposite sides of the teams! It is fair to say that I am a huge fan of the Halo series now and I am looking forward to the new game out next week! This game was originally around £40-£50 and can now be purchased, new or pre-owned, for around £12-15 from numerous stockists.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Still a great game and worth the money but not the best.

Halo Reach is the game we were all waiting for. Buying it, running home and struggling with the plastic wrapper reminded me of my first Halo experience back in the days of the Xbox's flag ship game. A little older I still felt like a child when hit by the new heavenly soundtrack from Martin O'Donnel, a key factor in the feeling and much of the success of the Halo franchise (goose bumps a plenty).

The game menu is what we've come to expect from Bungie simple and well made so that it is easy to navigate. It comes with all the added extras, Forge, Theatre, Multiplayer and the Campaign. The main campaign is a triumph, it retains all of what made Halo great, massive maps, beautiful vistas, armies of baddies to take on each with a decent amount of intelligence so as not to become boring or repetitive. The game play is varied involving warthogs, tanks and spaceships, what more could you need from a fantasy sci fi game? Oh yeah, jetpacks!!! The usual weapons have been changed a little some good some not so, I kind of missed my old three shot Br which has been exchanged for a one shot with similar power. Aiming via a reticule that spreads and gets less accurate as you fire means a bit more skill is needed to time shots in order to take baddies out.

Multiplayer has always been where Halo has its longevity, my old Halo 3 had been in my Xbox for years and years, it was the best investment ever for the amount of fun I got out of it. This is my comparison, and this is the problem. Perhaps it is because of COD or other shooters coming into the market and maybe my lack of dedication to Reach but I still prefer Halo 3's multiplayer. Reach is still spectacular and immense fun, the multiplayer is very similar to Halo 3 with a few tweaks and new map/game variants. It is smoother but there are a few things I can't get used to. The jetpacks are brilliant and so are the other loadouts but I still liked the old way of running around until you found loadouts instead of choosing them while respawning. The melee attack now involves an action moment which although looks cool leaves you open to attack and can become annoying because its hard to not do. Another thing is the health packs and shield bar which I now think over complicate things.

All in all I am still glad I have this game and it has been worth the £25 I paid for it. Even though I still play on Halo 3 and there is stiff competition from other shooters such as COD, Halo Reach still has a place in my game rack. I wish they had kept Masterchief in the picture as he was a cool dude and I think he deserved it, but obviously this isn't possible with a prequel. The thing that is exciting me now is that it is not the end......Halo 4!!! Oh yeah!

* This product with me - I Bought this product on the release date as I have always been a keen Halo player and have loved every game, I brought it home and played a few games and was amazed immediately, the controls feel smooth and it is much easier to combine melee, jumping and shooting simultaneously. The matchmaking was fast, even with about 30,000 people online and connection was generally good (the host migration is very helpful), I didn't really find any lag issues which were affecting my game too much, it was mostly a lag spike every now and then. The campaign itself is brilliant, however I would have expected something a bit more in depth for the final halo game, but none the less I can always go back and complete it on legendary if I get bored. The game is set before the first Halo, and you play as noble team (instead of master chief), and unlike previous halos the customisation you make to your character shows in the campaign. Speaking of customisation, now there is a credit system which allows players to earn in-game money and spend it on armour or armour effects which make you stand out in multiplayer. Forge returns and is probably one of the best aspects of the game if I am honest, being able to create masterful pieces of scenery to play with friends on is just fantastic, and from race tracks to MLG maps you have all the tools available at the push of a button.

* Improvements - Overall I couldn't really give any improvements to the game, except for the campaign which I expected to be a bit longer, however it is still good. With every game you get annoying players online, which can ruin the experience, but if you start getting angry or frustrated, just turn off your Xbox and relax for a bit.

''The Game''

Level design: The campaign levels are very good; each level provides you with a different scene and environment which adds effect to the game itself. Also the online levels are impressive, with fairly basic and straight forward maps, which make it easy to get use to and allow you to have even more fun while playing. They also have game modes which incorporate the best maps made on Forge for everyone to play.

Interface: The interface is fairly basic, and the only problem I encountered was the kill feed getting in the way (this may have been because of the size of my screen), which put me off a bit.

How it felt to play: Overall, very good, one of most natural FPS games to play and very easy to get use to, as long as you look at the controls and do not rush into certain games.

I would recommend this game to anybody who enjoys FPS games, if you have never tried a FPS game before then this is a great place to start, stunning visuals, amazing gameplay and endless new features get you eager to play alone and with friends.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

A brilliant futuristic FPS. Everything about this is amazing! A must buy for all FPS & Halo fans!

== Halo Reach ==Halo Reach is a first person shooter set in a futuristic science fiction setting during the year 2552. Players take the role of Noble Six, a super elite soldier engaged in combat with an alien collective known as the Covenant. Gameplay is more similar to the original Halo game which was for the first Xbox and that was called Halo Combat Evolved. Later Halo games in the series except Reach have been somewhat different. The player's character is equipped with a recharging shield that for everytime he gets hit as long as he is in a safe area health replenishes back to full. When the energy shield is depleted, the player character's health takes a hit; when the character's health reaches zero, the game reloads from a last saved checkpoint which probably wont be to far as there are loads of them. Health can also be obtained using health packs scattered throughout the levels in Halo Reach.

Back in the old Halo 3 (the first on the Xbox 360 console), players could wield one-use equipment power-ups that offer temporary offensive or defensive advantages. This system of single-use equipment is replaced in Halo Reach by reusable and persistent armor abilities such as active camouflage, armor lock which is a pretty advanced shield type thing, Hologram to make it look like there is two of the player, Jet Pack to fly around with and also sprint so you can run twice as fast but you can only carry one of these with you at once so choose wisely. Which ever ability you have will remain with you until you pick up another or if you die and had a previous ability, you might get that one back. In addition to this and a few other changes to existing weapons from the Halo series, Reach features new and upgraded weapons fulfilling various combat roles.

=== Gameplay ===The gameplay in the Halo game series has always been one of my favourites and in Halo Reach its brilliant and doesn't disappoint in the slightest. Halo Reach's gameplay is incredible with its fast paced action and some high octane shooting and in some parts some mesmerizing special effects. Bungie have worked a lot more on the gam,eplay of this new and improved Halo game and they don't disappoint. I for one love the gameplay its thrilling and enthralling and leaves you wanting more. It has stunning effects and some beautiful scenery. One of the best things about Halo Reach is the variety of game modes on the game that have some brilliant gameplay in each of them. Also the game can be tricky but there are so many different settings on this game for the difficulty ranging from Easy, Normal, Heroic to the fairly hard and somewhat impossible for some Legendary. But I guess if you find it to easy on one setting you can go through and change it to a more suitable setting. The gameplay of Halo Reach has to be the best I have witnessed on a console game so far to date.

=== Game Modes ===Now on Halo Reach there are endless game modes and tons of fun to be had. Below is a list of the game modes on halo reach and what I think of them and all about them.

Campaign Mode - This is basically the main mode where you pick your difficulty out of what I said above, Easy, Normal, Heroic or Legendary if you dare! Basically there are 11 full on missions with tons of alien like creatures to kill with missions to do. Now 11 missions sounds pretty poor but in fact each mission is quite big and will take ages to get through. Also once you have done it on easy or normal you should try doing heroic or legendary to get the achievements. Now for legendary I went through with one of my cousins because it is simply that hard. You can also make this mode more challenging by putting on these things called skulls, now I don't bother with these because it is way to hard with them and in my opinion there is no fun in this with them on. All in all this is the main mode and the game isn't based on this mode but it is pretty good and has a well designed story to it. Worth a few attempts at legendary trust me!

Matchmaking - This is an Xbox Live mode and is one of the most thrilling, enthralling and most enjoyable modes I have ever played, there is absolutely endless things to do on this mode. This is basically the mode you want to play, especially if you have friends that live far away from you as you can join them and fight against other people. It can range to a map battle which is an area from the actual main game and you go 4 vs 4, if you don't have four friends like I don't then it will give you random people and you take on the other four, ones with the highest amount of kills at the end wins. Its a team battle but there are others such as Big Team Battle which is 8 vs 8, plus others like 2 vs 2 vs 2 vs 2 vs 2 which is one of my favourites, especially when your with two of your friends and one of you has to go with someone they don't know, whilst your other two friends are together. It makes it more competitive. There is also one where there is 8 of you all against each other. But aside from this there is tons of others maybe way to many to mention. Some of these include racing games such as a race on a vehicle from the game called a Mongoose first to do 3 laps wins. There are also Capture the Flaf which is team vs team first to get the opponents flag and take it back to there own base wins. Also on this mode there are modes called, Invasion, Rumble Pit, Living Dead, Team Objective (which is basically do something before the other team), Team Swat, Team Snipers (the worst on it in my opinion avoid unless your really good) and Multi team. Hours and hours of gameplay from this mode and if your like me and love shooting games this is a must buy just for this mode! I love it its so addictive and enjoyable.

Firefight - Now this is another quality mode and can be played either alone, with friends or also via Xbox Live and to be honest it is a lot more better either with friends or on Xbox Live with your headset on talking to people you don't know and having fun. It is basically you teaming with someone from Xbox Live or a friend or even on your own and the goal is to kill everything that moves except who's with you and get the highest amount of score possible. the more you kill the better you will be. There are so many rounds to each firefight and can last up to well over an hour each game but its totally worth every second because its really enjoyable and more action packed than a movie. There are also the four difficulty settings on this mode as well as campaign and there is skulls on it as well but on this mode some skulls can work to your advantage and will help get some of the achievements. i myself love this mode, don't really do this mode anymore since I have all the achievements but it is really very enjoyable. There are a total of 8 area maps on this mode and my favourite has to be either Outlook or the Glacier areas. Sometimes its more fun than the other game modes. You want action go for this mode.

Custom Game - This mode is good if you want fun and if you want to past a hell of a lot of time. You basically pick your own rules and do what you want to do. All of the above applies only if you want it to. It is also a Xbox Live only mode but if your on live then no problem. If you are send me a message I would love to add you. On Custom Game there is several game types to choose from and these are, Assault, Capture The Flag, Head Hunter, Infection (one of my favourites to play with friends as I always go hunting to infect them), Invasion, Juggernaut, King Of The Hill, Oddball, Race, Slayer, Stockpile and Territories. All these can be played on a total of 12 maps plus more if you buy some microsoft points to download the new maps.

Forge - Is basically you control everything. You pick items and put them where you want them and you do the layout of the whole level. People can join at anytime so be careful. I myself am not a big fan of this mode, not many people are interested as it takes way to much time to make things and design levels, when it could be over within ten minutes. Not the best mode on a game in fact one of the worst but least its playable. One mode to avoid!

Theater - This isn't a mode you play its more to watch videos and see pictures of what people have uploaded and some are actually really funny. They are photos and videos of what people have done whilst playing Halo Reach, so anything is possible. You can download peoples stuff like videos and photos or you can actually upload your own for others to download and laugh and also enjoy.

I would also like to point out that on Halo Reach for the first time is an armory where you can buy new equipment for your character and also change your service tag which is how everyone online recognizes you, mine is AWOL, plus you design your own emblem which everyone recognizes as well, so its easy for people to remember you and tell who you are and what you are like at the game. This is pretty much all the info I can give on the game modes as there is, like I said endless possibilities.

=== Graphics ===The graphics for Halo Reach probably wouldn't matter to most people as most of the Halo fanatics, such as myself actually go by the gameplay but I have to say the graphics are beautiful and amazingly crafted with tons of special effects, more than movies in fact. The design of the main character has always been the same and he pretty much looks no different until you buy yourself new equipment and new armor. The layout and design of the levels have been worked on a lot more from previous Halo games and in this one it is more real and more stunning and also more effective towards the gameplay and all its other features. Another thing that impressed me about the graphics was the detail and design of the monster or aliens, which ever you like to call them. They look really well designed and actually look more evil than previous aliens from other Halo games. The graphics do slightly change on the online game modes a little bit but it doesn't change how amazing the graphics are.

=== Sound ===This impressed me, the sound that comes from the game is brilliant. every little aspect of the sound that is in the game is brilliant. The sound of each weapon firing is different to each other, the sound the aliens/monsters make is great and stands out a lot and also the music from the game is awesome and each time it gets faster and louder, then something is coming for you. The sound keeps you on the edge of your seat and also I use surround sound and it is immense and sounds magnificent. Even the sound from the online modes is pretty amazing, the only downfall to the sound I have is when you get someone speaking from somewhere in the world and they just keep disrespecting you and all that but they are easily muted so you don't have to put up with them.

=== Other Bits ===Halo Reach is probably one of the only games that I believe to be well worth its money. with all the game modes, the brilliant graphics and the lush sound effects it makes the game worth what you pay for it. I bought this the day it was released and a good thing about it I will still be playing it next year because so many people play it and enjoy it still. Its a huge game that millions play and it will last for ages so it has to be worth its value right? To be honest i think its worth double its value and this is the one game I can enjoy every time I am on it.

The game can be quite difficult if your a beginner to these sort of games but you can always start on easy and work your way up through the difficulty settings. I wouldn't recommend you go straight for the online modes if you have never experienced a Halo game before as people on there will rip you to shreds and make you look less than a beginner. But once you've played through the campaign mode I believe you are ready to conquer anything on the game and let the hours of playing commence.

The longevity of the game, well what more can I say? Its a huge game that will last you almost a lifetime. I have had it ages and I for one am still no way near bored of it. The campaign will last approximately 8 hours maybe a little more if your new to it but it will last about 8+ hours a day online if you want it to. for me that a little extreme but if you like you games and have nothing better to do, trust me you will still enjoy it as much as you did the first time round.

Halo reach is one of the best games I have ever played and it has many many fans and is gaining fans constantly and new people are joining the fight everyday. Its a top top game, where you can get many hours of enjoyment from it. I actually cant think of anything bad to say about the game except when your playing online and all of a sudden some of your team members decide to quit and it ends up being you against four people, but I actually enjoy that more, its more of a mission. The game has a certificate of 16+ because of the action, shooting, violence and some strong language but if your older I recommend this game. i would give this game a solid and very impressive 9.5/10 almost perfect!

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Pure perfection by one of the greatest gaming studios of all time!

Bungie have gone to the roots of where the story begins in the massively popular Halo franchise and they really have gone all-out on this brilliant piece of art!

Storywise, the game starts on the battle of Reach (where the first spartans are created) and the spartans are making their last stand against the on-coming covenant forces! The game fills in all the events prior to the first Halo game and Halo Wars. The story is extremely well told, with each member of your Spartan squad having their own unique (and often funny) personality!

Graphics and things, Bungie really have poured their heart and soul into this game! They haven't used the game engine that was seen in Halo 3 (they have used a completely new engine) and they have managed to pack many more polygons and on-screen characters into the game! It truly is a beautiful game and it really does push the 360's hardware!

The weapons and armour abilities really make this game different from the previous releases! While you'll have all the favourites such as the needler, plasma pistol etc, you'll get new weapons such as the needle rifle (the needler + the battle rifle), plasma launcher (oh yes this thing rocks) and the DMR (Designated Marksman Rifle) and they all kill the covenant nicely! However the armour abilities are what really differ this game! You have access to jetpacks, armour lockdown, holograms and sprinting! These can all be changed in multiplayer and are all available for use during the lengthly singleplayer campaign and they really add something new and fresh to the game ! You also get the optoin to assassinate enemies for a quick and silent kill (yes this is in multiplayer as well!)

Character customisation and multiplayer options are also key. You have a lot of options to choose from when designing your spartan (even more than Halo 3 surprisingly) and you can use your created spartan throughout the campaign game as well as in multiplayer (which was great and a real surprise to me). In the mutiplayer, all the weapons and vehicles from the main game (yes there are some new vehicles, yay) are in it and you can earn points from each match to customise your character in-game (this can also be done in the singleplayer campaign!). Many of the maps are taken from the singleplayer campaign and each has their own special quirk to it!

Firefight mode from Halo:ODST has been reintroduced and allows 4 players, 4 player coop is still valid and of course the standard deathmatch options are in there!

Forge has been MASSIVELY improved from Halo 3 and you really can create anything (most of the favourite Halo 2 maps have been faithfully recreated and Bungie allows you to search and download them to your Xbox 360's hard disk drive!).

The legendary edition is well worth getting as well! Inside you will find a journal with information from Doctor Halsey on the spartan programme, a numbered and hand-painted statue of Noble Team and a DLC code for a Flaming helmet making the package well worth buying!

Bringing everything together, if you like first person shooters, you will love this game! If you have played any other Halo game, you will love this game! If you love games in general, you will adore this game!

Right i'm off to play some Halo! Laters!

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Very Good game if you are a Halo fan and I totally recommend it to Xbox 360 new comers.

Halo Reach is the prequel to the Halo series, set just before Halo Combat Evolved and tells the story of the downfall of Reach - Home of the Spartans. The game was announced a year earlier, even before Halo: ODST was out - Reach was the next big game, ODST was just something to keep us patient. When the day finally came and my Legendary Edition box arrived, I was quick to start playing it and I was not disappointed, I had to make the most of it because it's like a movie you haven't seen before, after you've seen it you can surprise yourself again.

Whilst I was playing it I noticed some things were referenced in Halo 1, 2 and 3 like the fact that Cortana made a cameo in it. The whole game was very lengthy and in my case, lengthy games are always my favourite. There were parts though I wasn't too pleased with, Noble 2 was just assassinated there and then, I found it a bit undramatic however maybe this was what players needed to feel.

Overall Halo Reach was a very great game to play however once you've played it through at least twice, you do get bored and after a while even multiplayer seems to get a bit boring. In my opinion Halo 3 is a better game for nostalgia but still a great game.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Highly recommended.

If any of you are aware of the Halo franchise, it's one of the most acclaimed First Person Shooter games out there. It first spawned with Halo, a critically acclaimed game from Bungie, and from then it made Halo 2 and 3. These were in themselves good games, but they had flaws. But I won't go into that just now.

Halo:Reach is the one Halo game that doesn't involve the Halo. Which sounds funny, and odd, and at first thoughts you'd think this would render the game pointless. But anyway, we delve in.

~~~So, what's the story?~~~

Covenant vs. Reach. That's basically it. The covenant are attacking Reach, you have no idea why, you just fight. You play as part of Noble Team, with 5 other Spartans, genetically enhanced super soldiers that make Action Man look like Barbie. You run around on the planet Reach stopping the covenant from getting its big bad nasty hands on your planet. This is a lot harder than the childish manner in which I've written it, and it is very hard. The last mission took me 3 hours to complete on the hardest difficulty. Anyways, the graphics are good, the story is brilliant, I was laughing at some points at how fun it was. Overall, it's brilliant, and that's enough said about it.

~~~But, what about the Multiplayer aspect?~~~

This is what really hooked me in. The main change is that you now have "Classes". These are basically individual abilities (or "Plugs") installed in your players armour. You have quite a few now including Sprint, Jetpack, Armor Lock and Invisibility. It also has a levelling up system similar to Call of Duty, except you don't unlock guns, you unlock new armour, which lets you edit and customise your own online avatar, to do battle with friends, and a Challenge type system. There are several different types of game modes, and all of them are different. Infection I find is very fun, but Rumble Pit's better for getting Assassinations (a new feature in this game, which are also very fun). What's new this time is that you can play the campaign and firefight (I'll explain in a bit) with random people on the internet through matchmaking. This was missing in Halo:ODST, I don't know why, but they just didn't put it in.Firefight is a new game mode they introduced into Halo:Odst, and it involves dropping you in an enclosed space and dropping a load of Covenant to go with you. Which sounds like a bit of a rude thing to do, but it's quite fun. I quite like Gruntpocalypse, you're given single fire weapons, and put against a certain type of enemy that a single shot to the head will kill.

~~~Overall Review~~~

This is my favourite of all the Halo games. By far, it just feels better and more fine tuned.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Great game, Definately worth buying

So this is it, your last chance to kick ass in the halo series. The last game Bungie will produce, but will it be as popular as all previous halos', and will it live up to what we expect.

The first three halos are basically master chief kicking ass, then ODST came along, and no more master chief? We were all wondering where he had gone, but now, Bungie have fulfilled the needs of all Grunt killing machines, and given us not just one, but SIX to play with!!!

Although the fate of all are known right from the beginning, the previous halos, have all had us longing to know what happened in the 'beginning'. And how did the war on human beings begin? This final Halo is set to complete the story, and answer all those questions.

Graphics: 9 / 10 With Bungie and Microsoft redeveloping the entire halo engine, it has allowed them to produce millions more 'polygons' (small shapes which produce images we see) . This makes both the weapons and all characters much more impressive, if you thought the previous halos' had good graphics, prepare to be stunned. Admittedly, it is hard to judge as halo is set in an unrealistic environment, but the land, and human faces which we do see, are truly amazing. With the short hi-def films inbetween levels, the graphics are really tight, and perfect on a HD tv.

Sound: 8 / 10The sound effects in Reach have just built on the previous versions, with similar composers to all previous halos', the main theme tune is of course included, and at times the music produces a tense and atomospheric feeling, which gives you the idea that something is about to happen.

Controls: 10 / 10The controls of course are exactly the same as all previous halos' which allows you to transfer easily between all of them.

Gameplay: 9.5 / 10Single-player this being the end of halo, all you lovers, are certainly in for a treat, with many of the questions you have always asked yourself been answered, the saviour to all mankind is finally revealed. Definitely worth playing, even if you are not a halo fan. Otherwise, you will definitely hear about it.

Multi-playerOnce again, the multiplayer system has been given a complete revamp, with many different game types available to play, be it zombies, or S.W.A.T. The gameplay is very good, with it seeking good connections, so there is little lag, making it even better fun.

Replay value, longevity: 8/ 10

Single-playerThe campaign is definitely addictive, I have now played it three times on legendary, and am still yet to get bored. With the story flowing nicely, it is possible to step in at any point, and have a good feeling as to what is going on.

Multi-playerWith the introduction of the credits system, it is a real joy to play online, these points definitely get you addicted, be it to get to the next rank, or unlock a new piece of armour, you certainly want to play more, and with the introduction of Daily, and weekly challenged, you will get hooked, and will most certainly be late for work, or school. Besides all these good things, the fact that they have got rid of the 0 - 50 rank is disappointing, it now does not feel like you have to win again to equal out the fact that you lost a game, and your rank constantly goes up, which I have to admit, could limit the game.

Overall rating: 9 / 10In conclusion, this Halo game is definitely one of the finest games around, and with millions of people buying it, I'm sure it will be right up there with the greats.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

Get this game!

I will admit I am a avid Halo fan, I got hooked since the first game came out.

When people moan that they longer can play as 'master chief' it gets very annoying, while he was the main character his story could not go on with him forever and something new needed to be produced. As a little side track, Halo wars showed that the franchise could go anyway, in that game the genre was something new, a Real Time Strategy (RTS). But in this new instalment I was completely blown away, mainly by the graphics as a immediate factor and also the loading times as it seemed to flow effortlessly.

Even if you have not played the other versions it really does not matter, as this one goes back to the start of the whole story 'where it all began'. One major improvement from the other games is the story telling, as this instalment is more thrilling and tense, as you get to see how Reach coped when under attack, with Spartans, UNSC forces and civilians running around in chaos.

Without giving too much away, I like how realistic this game was, (even though it is fiction), as in real wars people die unfortunately. Another sense of realism was the improvement to the weapons recoil, shooting speed and accuracy. Which stops weapons always being overpowering, obviously bar the power weapons i.e. sniper/rocket launcher etc.

Even if you not a crazy Halo fan, or even if you just like playing shooters, I would recommend this game.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

This game is the perfect FPS fan package

Why so much hate on such a good game. Halo Reach is the newest installment in the Halo series and it lives up to its predecessors. This time around you do not play as Master Chief but you play as your own created Spartan to try to save planet Reach from falling to Covenant grasps. While many die-hard Halo fans may already know the ending to this game before they play it the game itself is a perfect package. Still using the same engine as Halo 3, the game has breathtaking visuals and an equally epic soundtrack. For those Halo veterans out there this is deemed as the most difficult of all the Halo games. Aside from the almost perfect campaign mode it also delivers in where most first person shooters fail; multiplayer in this game is brilliant with many of our favorite gametypes such as Slayer,Swat, and Capture The Flag returning for one last time. Many new Multiplayer gametypes have been included in this game as well such as Headhunter. To round this off Halo Reach is the perfect package, boasting countless hours of fun and many gametypes including Forge, Theatre, Multiplayer, and Campaign. This game promises to stay fresh for a very long time.

Comments

Advantages

Disadvantages

A brand new Halo game with brand new features for never ending fun, with added credit system!

Halo Reach, the latest release from the Bungie Headquarters!Reach was released on the 14th of September and sold millions of copies on the very first day, averaging 500'000 players online every few hours and that's just in matchmaking.­­ The game is based around your squad of spartans, superior humans, known as the Noble team. Their enemy, the Covenant. The Covenant is a fictional race of aliens who are at war with the human race.

Halo Reach, as for all the Halo games, is an FPS. FPS stands for - First person shooter.While in first person, you play the role of Noble 6, member of an elite super soldier squad, engaged in combat with an alien collective known as the covenant for the world of Reach.

Reach, when being compared to Halo 3, is an entirely new game. As well as an advance in graphics, the gameplay is a lot smoother due to an increase in FPS (Frames per second). Reach offered a lot to Halo fans, new weapons, new vehicles, new maps, however the most anticipated feature for nearly all fans, was the brand new forge. Forge, an editor which players could change everything they wanted on a map to make it how they wanted it. Forge became popular on Halo 3 forcing Bungie to make it even more fantastic and a lot more advanced in Halo Reach. The ability to merge items and geo-merge is now a simple click of a button unlike the tough task you'd face in Halo 3.

The veto system in online multiplayer matchmaking allows players to vote for their favourite maps or game mode of their choice, unlike Halo 3 where you'd simply veto for another random map/gametype. To add life to the same, credits have been added as an award to players based on performance. New gametypes in matchmaking can also be found, for example, while playing headhunter players drop skulls upon death, which can be picked up by other players to score points in designated capture zones.

Halo: Reach was released in three retail editions. The standard addition consists of the game and the manual, with the added Recon armor code if the game was purchased within the first few days. With an exclusive set of in-game Elite armor, the limited edition features an artifact bag with story informations and different packages. The legendary edition is the last of the three editions, coming with a 10-pound statue of the noble team, two hours of developer commentary and in-game Spartan armor (Flaming helmet).